02:44 PM PST on Monday, November 21, 2005

By ANTONIA GIEDWOYN and TERESA BELL, kgw.com Staff

HILLSBORO -- A six-hour drama ended in cheers when a Nike jet carrying the company president and top executives landed safely in Hillsboro Monday after circling for six hours because of landing gear problems.

KGW

The Nike corporate jet lands in Hillsboro.

Dave Newton, the pilot of the Gulfstream V, was finally able to fully extend the right landing gear and touched down about 12:11 p.m. after talking directly with Gulfstream officials from his cockpit.

"The pilot was unbelievable, unbelievable," said Nike President and CEO William Perez, who was on the flight. "We tried some zero gravity maneuvers... we did some ups and downs and twists and turns and it popped out," he said, referring to the stuck landing gear.

Perez said he "wasn't worried one bit" because Newton was so skilled. He also commended co-pilot Blair Gamman and flight attendant Melody Peters for their airmanship.

kgw.com/viewer Jason Harris

Close-up of the malfunctioning jet gear.

John O'Meara, chief test pilot for Gulfstream, was on the ground during the ordeal to help the corporate jet land. About 25 onlookers cheered as the jet touched down.

The emergency ordeal captivated the media and the smooth landing was shown live on MSNBC, CNN and KGW Northwest Newschannel 8, as part of the ongoing commerical-free coverage. Earlier TV footage showed the right main wheel only about one-quarter extended, apparently blocked by the wheel door.

In addition to the crew and Perez, Charlie Denson, co-president of the Nike brand, Mary Kate Buckley, Vice President and General Manager of the Nike Americas Region, and Merritt Richardson, assistant to the CEO were on board the $46 million aircraft, Nike officials said.

KGW

The jet seen from behind.

It was the first flight for this particular jet since Nike purchased it.

The jet had been circling both the PDX and the Hillsboro airports at various times throughout Monday morning and the pilot had been in contact with both airports as well as the Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington.

“We have everything on standby. Our fire and rescue workers are very well trained for this sort of thing... we practice for this kind of emergency all the time," Portland International Airport spokesman Steve Johnson said during the incident.

As it burned off fuel to lessen the risk of fire during an emergency landing, the jet made low passes over the Hillsboro runway.

The pilot also performed two "touch-and-go" maneuvers, briefly touching the runway with the extended left landing gear and then lifting off again, said Connie King, spokeswoman for the Hillsboro Fire Department.

She said the reason for the maneuver was to try to jostle the other wheel down. However, she said the right wheel remained stuck. It was unclear exactly what held the landing gear in position when the jet finally made the safe landing just after noon.

The incident began just after the jet took off at 6 a.m., en route to Toronto, Canada. The landing gear did not fully retract and the right wheel became stuck in a position that was about one-quarter extended, Johnson said.

(KGW meteorologist Dave Salesky, reporter Wilson Chow and The Associated Press contributed to this report.)